French automotive supplier Plastic Omnium is acquiring automotive battery and electronic supplier ACTIA Power and investing 20 million euros ($22 million) in battery manufacturer Verkor to grow in electric mobility.
Plastic Omnium has entered "into exclusive negotiations with ACTIA Group to acquire its ACTIA Power division, specialized in the design and manufacture of on-board batteries, power electronics and electrification systems for electric mobility: trucks, buses and coaches, trains and construction equipment," a March 29 news release said.
"Plastic Omnium is accelerating its commitment to electric mobility by combining a unique component design expertise with a comprehensive range of storage solutions and energy management systems for the entire mobility industry including cars, rail, commercial fleets, trucks and buses," CEO Laurent Favre said in the release.
The investments come just days after Plastic Omnium announced it had added presses to produce major exterior parts that could integrate sensors and other advanced electronics and acquired Munich-based Automotive Lighting Systems GmbH.
With the acquisition, Plastic Omnium plans to build a range of energy management solutions for all types of engines, the release said, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids, all-electric and fuel cell stack vehicles. The acquisition will give the company a new technological platform, research and development capabilities in electronic component design and electric power storage and management systems.
Negotiations are expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2022, the release said.
ACTIA Power currently employs more than 200 people in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Plastic Omnium has also entered an industrial partnership agreement with Verkor to develop production capabilities for electric batteries for individual and commercial vehicles and stationary energy storage.
Plastic Omnium will gain access to an initial cell capacity of 4 GWh per year from 2025, the release said.
"This industrial collaboration places Verkor at the center of the electric mobility market and allows us to develop in the utility vehicle and stationary storage markets," Benoît Lemaignan, CEO of Verkor, said in the release. Plastic Omnium has two major investments underway in France, including a 16 GWh Gigafactory in Dunkirk, which will be operational in 2024, and a research and development center in Grenoble. The center will be equipped with a 50 to 150 MWh pilot production line. It will be operational in 2023.